The Date at Gold Saucer
by Caya Strife
Summary: This is my first FF fanfic, so I chose an easy topic. Spoiler warning! Please R


The date at Gold Saucer

The date at Gold Saucer By Tifa_Lockheart_Nibelheim

_Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy. I do not intend to earn any money with this and simply wrote the story for my own amusement._

"I'll go to bed now!" Aeris said and ran up the stairs to her room in the Ghost Hotel in Gold Saucer.

"Yeah, I think I'll need some rest, too." Barret said, stretched and followed Aeris. 

One by one, the party left the hall for their rooms to relax before they had to go on their seek for Sephiroth. 

Cloud stood in his room, alone, looking out of the window, the light of the thunderstorm outside lit his face. He had been thinking very much in the last few weeks since he had joined Avalanche. His whole life had changed. But he didn't quite know if it was better now, or if everything was going to be worse. While thinking, he always felt lonely, as if nobody could understand his thoughts. Yes, sure, he had friends; Tifa, Aeris, Barret, Cid, Cait… but they weren't like him. They hadn't experienced the same things that he had.

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door that pulled Cloud out of his thoughts.

The door opened and, with that, Clouds face lit a bit, maybe it wasn't even to be seen, but there surely was a change in his mood.

"Cloud…", Tifa entered the room, with a strange expression on her face, one Cloud barely knew, one that made HIM feel strange. Then she forced herself to smile, but it wasn't as bride as it normally was. It wasn't the same bright smile that made everybody of the whole bunch feel better.

"I just thought… I mean… maybe we could sneak out and have some fun tonight. What u think?" 

Cloud was surprised. He had expected something else to be said, or to be asked. 

"C'mon", Tifa said. "Let's have some fun."

She ran to Clouds back and softly pushed him out of the room.

"So what shall we do first?" Cloud asked. 

"How about Wonder Square? I think they show a play there!" Tifa responded. It seemed like she had gone over the arrangement of this night many times, preparing every word, every answer to all the questions Cloud could ask.

"Ok."

So they jumped down the tube to Wonder Square and entered a big room built up like a theatre. It was full of couples. Cloud was astonished by that high number. He even wondered how they could get them all into the Gold Saucer hotels. 

But just as they wanted to go down the stairs to take a seat, the employee stepped in front of both of them, smiling brightly.

"You are our millionth couple! Congratulations! At this very special evening, we want you to help our cast to perform the play. Would you please do us this favor?"

Tifa was smiling as bright as ever. It seemed as if her smile was even glowing.

"Sure we will. Won't we, Cloud?"

Tifa was very excited about the idea. Not even waiting for Cloud's answer, she made her way down to the stage. 

The curtain was lifted and an actor, dressed up like a knight, started to tell the story of a princess having been kidnapped by a dragon, now waiting for a true hero to arrive.

This was Cloud's cue and he stepped out onto the stage. He was a bit nervous, because of all the people in the audience watching him. He didn't bring out a single word.

"So you are the true hero that will rescue our princess?!" the knight repeated, because Cloud had forgotten the text. 

"Y… yes, I am." He stammered. 

"I got to hear that the dragon has a weak point, but I can't quite remember it. Maybe on of them knows the answer to our troubles." The knight pointed at the king and the sorcerer that had just appeared on the stage.

Cloud chose the sorcerer. _Well, everybody expects a hero to be wise. Sorcerers are always regarded as wise men_.

"You want to know the dragon's weak point? It's true love! Only true love can save our princess!"

_Well, that's just what I expected. Isn't this always the same in fairy tales?_

Then, a dragon like dressed man jumped onto the stage, holding Tifa in his arms.

"My true hero! Please, save me!" Tifa said. It seemed like she knew what to say.

She has ever been kinda acting. Hiding that much from people she had always done, must have improved her skills.

The dragon roared and mumble some words.

Cloud knew that it was his turn now.

How could he show true love?

_I can't just kiss her. What will she think? What if she thinks too much of it?_

So Cloud took Tifa's hand in his and softly kissed it's back.

Tifa seemed very surprised. She surely would have expected Cloud blowing up the whole thing just walking off the stage, repeating how useless everything was.

A soft tone of red rushed to her cheeks.

The dragon vanished, having been beaten by true love.

The whole audience, mainly consisting of couples, was applauding. 

The actors, as well as Cloud and Tifa, bowed before the audience and left the stage. 

"That was wonderful! How about a gondola ride now?" Tifa asked.

Cloud agreed, so they jumped down to Round Square, bought two tickets and took their seats opposite each other. 

The gondola ride started, silence between the two. 

Tifa looked out of the window.

"Cloud, look! This is wonderful!" 

Cloud followed her advice and took a look out of the window. There he could see the most astonishing fireworks he had ever seen. All those clear colors reflected on the golden surface of the mini town. Then he looked at Tifa.

The colorful explosions brought a wonderful light onto her face, making her eyes shine even more than they normally did. 

The fireworks ended and silence returned to the gondola.

At once, Tifa pulled up the courage to say something.

"Cloud… I … I have to say you something. I've gone over this hundreds of times the last weeks. I know Aeris could just say it straight out, but I can't.

Cloud… I… I…"

Cloud stared at Tifa with excitement. 

But the gondola ride came to a sudden end. The wagon stopped and Cloud and Tifa stepped out.

"So, Tifa. What was it you wanted to tell me?" Cloud asked.

Tifa looked down to gather some strength to force a smile.

"It was nothing, really. It wasn't important." She replied.

Nothing? That can't be. I've never seen her that serious, that excited, that… nervous. Was she probably about to tell me she loved me? If she only had…

_But as long as I'm not sure about that…_

_It's better to be unsure than to ruin a lifelong friendship because of some foolish suspects, _Cloud thought and quietly followed Tifa back to the hotel. 


End file.
